Chapter 21

In The Good 'Ol Days

Two-Bit's POV

The next morning I woke up in my living room. My little sister went to her friend's house like she does everyday, my mom was working, and Arianna was eating at the dinner table. She was wearing her normal belly shirts and tight jeans; not that tramp suit Angela gave her.

"G'Morning Ari" I said as I got up from the couch.

"Hey Keith, sleep well?" Arianna asked as she ate a spoonful of cereal.

"Yeah I guess, how about you? Did my little sister bother you?" I took a handful of cereal in my palm and ate it.

"She was so sweet, what are you talking about being a bother?" Arianna chuckled.

I grinned and then looked at Arianna, "Are you ready to meet the rest of the gang?" I took another handful of cereal and stuffed it in my mouth.

"Yeah I guess, but I'm not sure if you're ready." Arianna said as she waved her spoon up and down.

I was wearing a white t-shirt that had a chocolate stain and my red plaid boxers. I knew what she meant, so I went into the bathroom and took a shower, and I got dressed. This time I wore my jeans and my blue Mickey Mouse shirt.

"Much better!" Arianna said as she turned off the TV.

As we walked out the door we met up with Curly Shepherd, who looked like he was taking a stroll down the block.

"Hey Ari, that's Angela's brother. Why don't you give back his sister's clothes?" I said as I unlocked my door.

"Alright" She said and then went close up to the gate. "Hey Curly?"

Curly froze in his tracks and turned slowly towards Arianna.

"It was Tim's idea!" He shouted.

Arianna had a confused look on her face and then turned to look at me.

"She wants to give back Angela's clothes back, Curly." I said from the door way.

"Oh a-alright" Curly looked a bit nervous and jumpy. I wonder why? Anyway, Arianna went to bring Angela's clothes, and she handed it to Curly. Curly smiled and then left in a hurry, he practically ran.

Arianna's POV

We reached a house. And inside were these two boys.

"Hey Ponyboy, hey Johnnycakes" Keith said as we entered the living room.

"Hey" Ponyboy and Johnny in unison.

"Who are they? I asked.

"That's Ponyboy, he is really nice, but he can space out sometimes." Keith said punching the boy, Ponyboy, playfully on the arm.

"Gee, thanks Two-Bit. Now I know what you think of me." Ponyboy said sarcastically.

"And that quiet boy over there is Johnny." Keith went up to Johnny and gave him a nuggie

"Do you remember us, Ari?" Ponyboy asked me.

"Umm" I thought really hard but nothing came back to me. "Nope"

Keith sighed and patted my back, "Don't worry, it'll come back sometime."

"Let's go see Soda and Steve." Keith said and walked out the door. I followed him, and Ponyboy and Johnny came along with us.

"So who's this Soda and Steve?" I asked.

"Soda is your REAL boyfriend, and Steve's your friend." Keith said.

"Oh" was all I said. I wanted to see how Soda looked like again. So once we reached the block of a gas station called the DX, Keith started to walk faster.

"Hey Sodapop" Keith said slapping, the boy on his back. "Hey Steve" he waved towards the garage.

"And what do we have here?" Soda said looking at me.

"Hey" I said standing about 2 feet away from him.

"You could come closer" He said with a smile. I walked closer to him. "Can I kiss you or will you push me away again?" Soda asked.

"Huh?" I looked at him with a puzzling stare. Then he brought his face towards mine, and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. I felt my self turn red, so I walked over to Keith, who was talking to another boy.

"Hey Ari" The boy said.

"Ari, this is Steve" Keith said taking a sip out of a beer can that he took out of his jacket.

"Hi' I said and shook his hand.

"Have you guys seen Nicole or Dally?" Keith asked. There were more people to meet? Oh god…

"Not today" Soda said walking towards us.

"Yeah we haven't seen Nicki in awhile, but I've seen Dally walking around here." Steve said shining up a car's hood.

"Keith, let's go looking for Nicki and Dally…whoever they are." I said trying to be nice.

"I don't know, Ari. It's gonna be hard." Keith said.

"Puh-lease! I'm bored anyway" I pleaded.

"Fine, but if it gets too late we're going to forget about them."

"Alright!"

Keith took me almost all over town in his car to find these two people missing. I was wondering why they even ran away.

"Keith?"

"Yeah"

"Why did they run away?"

"Well Nicki ran away 'cause her cousins didn't want her to see Dally anymore."

"Who's her cousin's?"

"Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy"

"They're a couple, I'm guessing."

"Yep"

After a few hours of searching we parked near a bridge. We watched the sun go down, it was so beautiful. A few minutes after the sun went down we saw a couple hand-in-hand walking by the car.

"That's them!" Keith exclaimed. "Dally, Nicki, wait!" He yelled.

"Oh hey Two-Bit" The boy said.

"I'm guessing your nick name is Two-Bit…" I said before getting out of the car.

"Yeah, long story" Keith then raced out of the car to catch up with the couple.

"Where are you guys going?" Keith asked.

"We don't know yet, we're just walking." The girl said. "Oh my god, Ari! How are you feeling? I heard what had happened to you."

"I'm fine, I still can't remember a lot of things though." I said. "Why did you guys wanna run away? They miss you back there."

"Yeah right, all they want is me to come home so they can scold me some more." The girl said, I think they said her name was Nicki.

"You're gonna eventually miss them." I said. "They're family"

She sighed and looked at the boy, who I think was called Dally. "You think we should go back?"

"Well we were eventually going home anyway, weren't we?" Dally said. Nicki smiled and nodded.

"Alright, I'll drive you back." Keith offered. In an hour or so we returned back to Ponyboy's house. It was around 8 PM. We were out looking for them the whole time, so the time flew by fast. Once we entered the house an older guy, Soda, and Ponyboy were in the living room.

"Hey guys" Nicki said nervously.

"Nicki! Oh my god, I thought you were gone for good!" Ponyboy said as he gave Nicki a hug.

"Yeah same here!" Soda said taking his turn in hugging Nicki.

"I missed you, why did you go?" The older boy said.

"Oh Ari, that guy, that's Darry, Soda and Pony's older brother." Keith whispered.

"Oh Pony and Soda are brothers?" I asked dumbfounded.

"I thought I said you can't see Dally anymore." Darry said.

"That's no fair! I still want to see Dally! I'm in love with him." Nicole exclaimed.

Soda, Ponyboy, and Darry all cracked up when Nicole said she was in love with Dally. Two-Bit chuckled a little bit too, but it was just Nicole, Dally, and I who were serious.

"What's so funny, huh?" I yelled. "Haven't you guys ever been in love, or thought you were? It's a great feeling!"

"How would you know?" Keith asked me.

"Because I'm Soda's girlfriend, and the first time I met him, at the DX, was like the first time I laid eyes on him, and I felt like I was already in love." I said.

"You remember that?" Soda asked as he widened his eyes.

"Yeah…I do…I DO!" I said and jumped around the room. Soda hugged me and kissed my forehead.

"Thank god you remember me!" Soda exclaimed. "Do you remember anything else?"

"Don't think so" I said.

"Remember that rumble you got into with me? That's where you lost your memory." Keith said.

"How did this rumble start?" I asked.

"Dally owed Tim money." Nicki said.

"What! I lost my memory, because YOU owed him money!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Then I jumped on Dally and put him in a head lock. He twisted me over, and I fell on the ground and slammed my head.

"Calm down!" Dally said with a grin.

"Are you alright, Ari?" My cousin asked helping me up.

"I just hit my head Two-Bit, no biggie." I said.

"Wait, you said Two-Bit!" Soda exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's his nickname, isn't it?" I asked. I was confused.

"How do you remember that?" Two-Bit asked.

"Uhh you told me before…" I said.

"You remember? Okay wait; do you remember the day we found Nicki and Dally in that house?" Two-Bit asked.

"When they butt naked, yeah?" I said. Everyone's eyes widened.

"You remember!" Two-Bit jumped up and down and hugged me.

"I can't believe it!" Soda said happily.

"Yeah, you two were naked?" Darry asked crossing his arms.

Dally and Nicki grinned innocently.

"It's all in the past; the good thing is that Arianna got her memory back!" Ponyboy exclaimed.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Long story, Ari, a long, tiring, story……"

Finally Arianna got her memory back! The story's not over yet, keep an eye out for the few chapters left! Oh, and Please Review!